The present invention relates to a method and a vacuum tumbler in accordance with the preambles to Claims 1 and 10.
Vacuum tumblers for the treatment of pieces of meat such as, for instance, tenderizing, macerating, marinating, etc. are known. It is known in the case of industrial tumblers to load the pieces of meat through an opening arranged at the front of the drum and to remove them through an opening at the rear thereof. By means of baffles arranged within the drum, uniform tumbling of the loaded pieces of meat is obtained. These tumblers, however, have the disadvantage that, after the end of the period of treatment, the loading and emptying openings must be opened, and the tumbler emptied, newly loaded, and again evacuated. Due to this intermittent operation which requires a large amount of work as a result of the loading and unloading, the downtimes of the machine are relatively long and its output low.